True Love's (Almost) Kiss
by inspiredinfj
Summary: Raven returns to the dorm one evening to find something amiss with her roommate.


Raven dropped her bag by the door with a heavy thud. The day had been one of the more exhausting ones at Ever After High, full of classes and hextracurriculars, like helping Professor Piper in his class on musical theory. She admired Professor Piper and she loved his class, she really did, but the work she brought back was a little overwhelming at times. Sometimes it was nice to return to the dorm at the end of the day and drop it all in favor of a long soak in one of the dormitory's princess-worthy tubs. Just the thought made her eyes brighten.

"Hey Apple," Raven called as she walked past Apple's half of the dorm. She headed straight to her shelves and immediately started to pick through the bath potion bottles for her favorite one, a shimmery, violet potion that smelled of juniper berry.

After a few beats of silence, Raven looked over at Apple, only to find the blonde sleeping across her bed, citrus-yellow hair tumbling over her sleeping face. Raven made a sympathetic expression. It seemed her roommate had had a day just as tiring as her own. She wasn't even able to change out of her dress before she fell asleep.

Raven went back to collecting her things for her bath, this time more quietly, when an odd sensation came over her and sent chills down her spine. It felt as if something was wrong, though a glance around the quiet, darkened room told her otherwise, and so she brushed it off.

She moved over to her vanity, where she carefully pinned back her raven locks so not to get them wet, then gathered a towel and comfy clothes before crossing the room again. Again, the dreadful sensation returned, only much stronger and moments before her high heel made contact with something slick.

"What the hex?" she mumbled, and lifted her heel to reveal shattered glass.

Raven set down her bath items and picked up a shard of glass with ginger fingers, then inspected the trail until it led her to Apple's full-length mirror, smashed and empty. Her eyes darted to Apple, strewn across the bed, and the grim sensation now fell heavy in her stomach.

"Apple?" Raven asked softly.

She began to approach the bed when the toe of her spiked shoe hit something and sent it tumbling underneath Apple's bed. She had a difficult time seeing with the room so dark, but whatever it was, it was small and round, yet it made a clunky sound as it rolled.

Raven got down on her knees and felt around underneath the bed. When her hand made contact with the object, she pulled it back to get a better look at it, now fitted perfectly in her palm. The moment she realized what it was, she dropped it once more, recoiling in disgust.

Her hand flew to her mouth to stifle a gasp as a brilliant, red apple with a single bite taken from it glared back at her.

"Apple!" Raven yelled.

Panic washing through her, she climbed onto Apple's bed and shook the slumbering princess. No matter how much she tried to wake her, however, she remained unmoving.

Cradling Apple's head in her lap, she began to stroke the hair away from her face. There was no doubt in her mind that her mother had somehow escaped through the mirror in Apple's room. Her mother could be devious and, Apple, trusting and it wasn't as if it hadn't happened before. Maybe this was her mother's way of punishing her for not following her destiny and so she took matters into her own hands. The thought carried tears to her eyes, but she refused to let them spill, to allow this to be a repeat of last time. Besides, there had always been one thing she regretted most about what happened that day. One thing she never got the chance to try.

Raven brought herself close to the princess's ruby lips. She drew a shaky breath, then squeezed her eyes closed and—

"April F—oh my godmother! Are you okay?"

Raven sat up from the floor, dazed, and pressed her palm against the back of her head where it had hit the ground. A throbbing pain started to emanate beneath her hand, but she still managed a self-conscious laugh.

"Fine! I'm fine!" she sputtered, then bolted to her feet. "I-I mean, April Fools? You scared me half to death! I was worried my mother had hurt you."

Apple smiled innocently at Raven, who sunk into the bed beside her. "You were? How sweet."

"Sweet?" she scoffed, then shook her head with a sour smile. "Okay, I get it, April Fools and all, but did you have to do _that_? After everything we've been through with my mother? Usually, the pranks are a little less hextreme, if you know what I mean."

"But I wanted to show you I could be just as fun as you and your friends." She leaned forward on her palms, pouting.

Raven's eyes fell to her lips, glossy and full, and she could feel her face warm at the thought of what she almost did with them.

Suddenly feeling the need for space, she pushed off of the bed and crossed the room. "Alright, but I don't think Darling would have appreciated the false alarm," she jibed, a little too roughly, and gathered her bath items from the floor.

"Where are you going?"

"As fun as this was, I've had a long day and I could use some time alone."

"Are you mad at me?"

Raven stopped with her hand gripping the door. She wanted to leave, hide her shame more than anything, but the twinge of concern in Apple's small voice gave her pause. The princess may have been naïve in more ways than one, but she wasn't ignorant to Raven's obvious curtness, and Raven hated to leave her with the misconception that she was angry. Worse, she hated to know that Apple was upset.

"I'm just tired," she said over her shoulder, and twisted the doorknob.

"Raven—?"

"What?"

There was a pause so drawn that Raven would have considered turning around if she thought she could trust her ability to keep her emotions from her face better. When Apple finally did speak, Raven thought her voice sounded much closer.

"Before I opened my eyes, were you going to kiss me?"

Raven spun around at the accusation and, suddenly, she came face-to-face with Apple. Realizing how close she was, her gaze fell to her feet.

"Because I've thought about it before and it wouldn't be so bad, kissing you," she confessed quietly.

Despite herself, Raven cracked a smile. She couldn't help it when Apple looked the way she did, so chaste and casual, or at least her attempt at being such.

"I just thought, maybe, if you still wanted to, we could try it sometime. I'm busy this week, but next Friday—"

Just then, Raven silenced Apple with the meeting of their lips. She could feel the surprise in the way Apple's body tensed, but she soon opened up and responded to Raven's soft kisses with her own. At some point, Apple rose on her toes, making Raven smile into the kiss and affectionately curve her hand around Apple's waist.

"Wow," Apple breathed after Raven drew back. "That was… More, please?"

Raven grinned, bashful, then took Apple's hand in her own. "Okay. Call me a romantic, but how about a date first? I hear you're free next Friday."

–

A/N: Prompted to use an April Fools prank by Anonymous on Tumblr.


End file.
